The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says an altercation resulting in the death of a man was not criminal.
According to ASIRT, on Aug. 6, 2023, members of the Medicine Hat Police Service received a call that a man had a machete and was screaming about an imaginary person.
The man threatened the officers and members of the tactical force were called in to help.
Crisis negotiators were also brought in to speak with the man, but he said all the phones were bugged. He proceeded to yell and then went back into his apartment.
Pepperball munitions were fired to try to stop the man, but ASIRT says they didn't work.
The man then advanced on the officers with the machete in his hand and was hit with several ARWEN rounds which are hard blunt plastic projectiles. They struck him in the leg, and he ran back into his apartment.
The news release says a strong gas irritant was sent out, which forced the man to open the doorway of his house, only to go back inside.
More gas was sent out which forced the man onto the third-floor balcony.
Two tactical officers were on the ladder of a fire truck and shot the man with an energy weapon. Officers used a pin and hold technique with a shield and the man was disarmed after more ARWEN rounds hit his legs and hands.
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He was taken into custody and was treated at the scene by emergency services.
According to ASIRT, only soft tissue injuries were noticed, and he was sent to hospital in stable condition.
The man's health got worse at the hospital, and he went into cardiac arrest and later died.
An autopsy found that the cause of death was, “ST-elevation myocardial infarction in the setting of methamphetamine intoxication and police restraint,” added ASIRT.
Witnesses say the man was yelling that people across the street had kidnapped his family and one believed he used methamphetamine.
ASIRT mentioned that the varying degree of force may have contributed to the impact of the man's heart attack.